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Monthly Meeting: Tuesday, February15 at 7:30 pm Click to Join Sensory Analysis Happy Hour: Thursday, February 24 at 8 pm Click to join  Join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, February 15 for our 2022 MASH Board Elections and a virtual discussion with Jeff Donlon, owner of Sunken Silo Brew Works. We’ll kick off our meeting with elections for the 2022 MASH board. Board member candidate profiles can be found below. We will also be saying thank you but not goodbye to three current board members who will be stepping down from their positions. After elections, we’ll be talking with Jeff Donlon, owner of Sunken Silo. Jeff holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Virginia Tech. After college he worked in IT and then became the COO of a start up in the fashion/technology sector in Amsterdam. When that role ended, Jeff moved back to the US and ran a family owned furniture store with his wife for 17 years. Jeff brewed his first batch of homebrew in 1997. He took a break from brewing for a time while he was living abroad then then started brewing again in 2009. Planning for Sunken SIlo started at the end of 2017. The lease for their location in Lebanon, NJ was signed in December of 2018 and Sunken Silo officially opened in November 2019. Jeff modestly claims that he is the least talented brewer of three at Sunken Silo. Join our February Meeting via Zoom  Our next Sensory Analysis Happy Hour will be at 8 pm on Thursday, February 24. As we continue to find ways to stay warm in the final days of winter, one effective technique is to consume “warming” beers. One of the best styles for this purpose is the Doppelbock, so we have decided to dissect this style by analyzing three different examples.We will include one of the better known German examples of the style along with a critically acclaimed US “double bock” and a local NJ beer. This curated spread of doppelbocks should allow us to delve into the malt complexities and nourishing nature of the style. This month’s beer selections: Ayinger Celebrator // A beer that has a dominant malty taste. This beer’s origins in a monk’s recipe are reflected in its heartiness. The Pope of Beers, Conrad Seidl, describes it as: “Almost black with a very slight red tone, a sensational, festive foam and truly extraordinary fragrance that at first summons up visions of greaves lard. The first taste is of mild fullness with an accompanying coffee tone, which becomes more dominant with the aftertaste. There is very little of the sweetness that is frequently to be tasted with doppelbock beer.” The Ayinger Celebrator has been ranked among the best beers of the world by the Chicago Testing Institute several times and has won numerous medals. Troegs Troegenator // This is no ordinary beer. At once malty and crisp. Traditional yet timeless. A rebel with a sweet side. This deliciously dark double bock calls for so much grain we had to custom-build our brewhouse around it. Layered with notes of smooth caramel, stone fruit and fresh toasted grains, ’Nator is a beer for people who love beer. Brix City I Wanna Bock With You// Perfect for crushing during the colder months, I Wanna Bock With You is our take on the classic German Doppelbock. Rich, smooth, and warming with malt-forward notes of light chocolate and hints of dark fruit.Both Celebrator and Troegenator should be widely available amongst your favorite bottle shops. Do as you always do to coordinate pick-up and sharing if you need help procuring or would like to share your four/six-packs. Another good practice is storing away a few bottles from each pack for revisiting the vintage versions in the coming years, as these beers tend to age gracefully (I always put away a few bottles of various doppelbocks every winter). Join our Sensory Analysis via Zoom 2022 MASH Board Elections  The 2022 MASH Board Elections will be held at our monthly meeting on February 15. Here are the profiles of the candidates running for MASH Board: Richard Cohen BEER. It’s what we brew. It’s what we drink. It’s what we crave. It’s what we think about. It’s what we discuss. It’s why we are together as North Jersey’s best homebrew club. It starts with a Board of a few dedicated leaders and expands to the rest of our great membership. I would like to continue representing you as part of our Board. Last year we started to get back to normal, but COVID variants have taken their toll once again on our in-person gatherings for now. Hopefully by the Spring we will be back together in-person, sharing our homebrews, participating in MASH Labs and brewing together at National Homebrew Day and beyond. I’ve been homebrewing for nearly nine years and have been a member of MASH since the club’s beginning three days prior to Winter Solstice 2012. MASH has been a great group of homebrewers and friends. I have learned so much from so many of our members, from brewing tips to learning how to judge beer at competitions. Part of our homebrew experience is not only to keep learning ourselves, but to also give back and share wisdom and experience with other new and seasoned homebrewers. That is one of the things that MASH has excelled at and I want to continue to be a part of that. Micha Stark My name is Micha Stark and I would like to run for the MASH Board. I brewed my first batch of home-brew about 7 years back, a Belgian Triple, and fell in love with it. I found MASH and joined about 5 months later. I was welcomed with open arms and open bottles and instantly knew I wanted to be a part of it. Much of my growth as a brewer was inspired by our meeting topics, activities, and the enthusiastic encouragement of my fellow MASHers. As I’ve matured as a home brewer, my involvement with MASH has grown. I served as the 2017 – 2021 Motown MASH Cellar Master as well as a member of the board in 2018 – 2021. I would like to serve a great group of brewers who all are so willing to share their time, knowledge, and most importantly, a good beer while growing the local brewing community. Bryan Hoppe I’d like to be considered as a new addition to the MASH board. I’m proud of the work MASH does, and would like to step up and contribute more. I’ve been brewing on-and-off for 10 years, and transitioned to all-grain in 2015. The current board deserves accolades for maintaining a vibrant community throughout tough pandemic conditions, and I’m excited to help as we move forward. I have learned a lot from this community, both technical brewing skills as well as a higher appreciation of beer and mead in general. I look forward to continuing to learn, and by joining the board hope I can help share that experience with others. Steve Hocken Hello! My name is Steve Hocken and I’d be delighted to serve MASH as a board member. I have lived in New Providence since 2009, and have been brewing for around 12 years, as a MASH member more or less from the start. I am a certified beer judge and enjoy judging one or two competitions a year. I have been known to take notes at monthly meetings, and also to hold awesome MASH events at my house. I am very proud to host one of our amazing barrel projects in my basement, while also participating in the second barrel. I currently help out on the Education committee, a fantastic opportunity to help the club disseminate its massive knowledge and experience among its members. Confession: I am definitely not the most regular brewer in the club, although I’ve brewed many styles and even brewed my first lager last year! I’m definitely more on the sporadic and not massively adventurous side. However, I do love the art and science of brewing and just as importantly, the social side that comes together so brilliantly in our club. It’s my turn to support MASH by serving on the board, especially at this critical time, as we emerge from the pandemic and move to re-engage our broader membership and rediscover the joys of sharing our homebrew together. Chris Johnson I humbly put my name into the mix for a second year on the MASH Board. I am looking forward to helping the club emerge from the COVID cloud and begin in person meetings and activities. I have enjoyed being a board member as we evolved the club to virtual events. While I feel we should continue with some of the virtual activities that have really worked such as the Sensory Analysis meet-ups, I’m excited to help the club get back in person and get to the learning and camaraderie that comes from getting together, sampling each others beer and talking about the hobby we love so much. For those who don’t know me, I’ve been a brewer since 1994, an active member of MASH since I’m not sure when, and I’m a BJCP judge. My focus for the club would be around events to learn and explore the brewing process; different styles of beer, mead and cider; developing critical tasting skills and learning about alternative fermentation of both food and beverages. Maulik Shah I wanted to express my interest in running for a board member for MASH for the first time and my inclination to run for the position is to learn and contribute to the activities of the association. I have been a member of MASH since 2021. I was first introduced to a craft beer in early 2020 so my love affair with craft/real beers is pretty new. Since then I have started enjoying trying different styles of beer and visiting microbreweries which made me curious to learn how it is made. This curiosity pivoted me to try my hand in brewing one gallon of beer at home from January 2021. Since then I have been on a quest to learn more about beer and brewing. Appreciate you taking your time to read this and considering me for the position.  Our 2022 Membership Drive is open. MASH members are invited to re-up their commitment to our community by renewing their membership. Dues remain $25 for AHA members and $30 for those who haven’t joined yet. While you don’t have to be a member to attend our monthly meetings, members get exclusive perks, including membership to our Mash New Jersey Slack, our running chat of all things homebrew and beer. And stay tuned for the reveal of our 2022 membership glass! “Member up” using this form You can then send payment via MASH’s Paypal at [email protected] or via Venmo to Board Treasurer Micha Stark @starkm1. |